this friday morning on "early today," patience and gasoline are in short supply as the northeast works to recover from sandy while help continues to pour in from the military, red cross, and also springsteen, bon jovi, and many others. obama, romney, and countless political candidates across the nation present their final arguments on who you should vote for them this final weekend before election day. plus new details during what really happened during the 9/11 plus new details during what really happened during the 9/11 benghazi terror attack. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. a horrific week for the northeast and mid-atlantic states continues to unfold. 94 people are confirmed dead in the u.s. from sandy.

minutes ago we learned the number of power outages has gone down to 3.5 million. at the height of the blackout, 8 million people had no power. some of the biggest cries for help are coming from new york's statin island where the superstorm has claimed at least 19 lives. among them, two little boys, brothers. a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old. their bodies were found in a marsh on thursday. their mother's suv was washed out by rising waters during the hurricane. people living on that island told nbc's ann curry support has been far too slow in coming. >> every single person on this block lost everything. >> we just want everyone to know that we are hurting down here and we need help immediately. >> fema teams did walk through staten island neighborhoods thursday trying to make sure victims signed up for federal help. homeland security chief janet napolitano will visit there today. elsewhere, the national guard handed out water, food, and diapers last night. 17 military aircraft arrived in

new york state carrying power repair trucks from california. in virginia the "u.s.s. san antonio" was loaded with we leaf supplies and set off for new york and new jersey. the city of hoboken is finally getting back on its feet after flooding stranded 20,000 people. governor chris christie says the power situation has drastically improved. >> remember, at the height of the storm we were at 2.7 million so we're a million more customers have been restored from the height of the storm. in connecticut, garbage is piling up on the streets as flooded basements are being cleaned out. in new york, washed out subways are starting to come back, and there are huge lines to get on buses as the city deals with a gridlock nightmare. work could begin today on removing a massive crane that's been dangling high above a midtown manhattan street. a lot of people are questioning the decision to go ahead with the new york city marathon sunday. mayor michael bloomberg says it

won't hurt storm relief efforts. and in lower manhattan where power may not come back until the weekend, our reporter from wnbc found an incredible sight near a supermarket. >> look how desperate it has got in here in this neighborhood. people are dumpster diving and what they're going after here is the food. some that i've spoken with so hungry they literally pried open this dumpster and they are literally picking through. four days after san dirks fatigue and frustration mount as people wait for electric power and more help to meet the overwhelming need. nbc's danielle lee is in atlantic city, new jersey, for us this morning. danielle, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. the ones famous atlantic city boardwalk now dismantled and empty. it's evidence of the long road ahead that's already leading to frustration.

more than 30,000 have asked for aid. all up and down the jersey shore crews are beginning to remove debris to try to get the power back on. in parts of new jersey, gas lines need to be rebuilt. they're losing patients. they're wishing this recovery could happen sooner. and there may be no rest for the weary. forecasters say a winter storm is headed this way and people are concerned it could get here before their power gets back on. live in atlantic city, new jersey, i'm danielle lee. lynn, back to you. >> thanks so much. crippled public transportation means more people are forced to commute by car, but power outages and distribution problems are causing shortages at the pump where patience is also in short supply. nbc's katy tur reports. >> reporter: if they weren't coming in on fumes, they were coming in mem ity. snaked around block after block after block, hundreds of cars

idle. you needed a helicopter to see how long the lines actually were. >> the line is going all the way around. >> reporter: from northern new jersey south to philadelphia, east to long island and as far west as pennsylvania people were on the hunt for gas. >> we've been in line about 2 1/2 hours. >> reporter: and in some areas police were deployed to maintain order. those looking to fill up their tanks or their gas cans waited and waited. >> they're working on the generator. >> in new york 50 to 70% of stations aren't able to sell fuel. no power, no pumping. in new jersey, that number climbs to 80%. before the hurricane hit, five refineries in the east coast were shut down or forced to work in a reduced capacity. three of them are up and running once again. one remains shut down. one at least has power going, so it should be a matter of time before they're operating at full

capacity. >> reporter: still patience is running out along with the gas. >> this guy just cut me and i'm running out of gas. i don't know if i'm going to make it. >> that's nbc's katy tur reporting. tonight the networks of nbc universal will join forces to host a benefit concert for the victims of hurricane sandy features artists native to the areas hardest hit including bruce springsteen, jon bon jovi and billy joel. that begins to at 8:00 p.m. on nbc, commercial-free and brought to you on the networks of nbc universal. to find out how you can help the victims of hurricane sandy, check out our website. it's nbcnews.com. and nor a look at the weather let's check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> still an amazing picture. people want normal see back. very cold air from canada. at least the rain is all gone. there will still be clouds

lingering. temperatures are cold where there's already huge lines at the gas pumps this morning. people waiting to get on the buses from brooklyn into new york city and checkpoints into new york city, a disaster and a huge mess. forecast for election day. of course it's election day, the turnout is important. the southeast could deal with a little rain there. south carolina, georgia, especially heading into north carolina. a wintery mix in the north. we may see a few showers. but overall in the election it's nice. that storm in the southeast on election day, on wednesday, could come up the eastern seaboard. it's going to be off the coast. it looks like the effects will still be felt, especially the coastal areas. it's goings to be like a mini nor'easter storm. some periods of rain. could get battering waves. if there's a storm around, they can't really prepare the power lines and do their preparations they need to be doing. as far as the west's forecast goes today, pretty quiet. there may be a few scattered showers. temperatures are typical for

this time of year. looking pretty nice in arizona. that's a look at your managing to remain in the 80s. spokan spokane, 54, a little cool. weekend forecast coming up. not too bad. this weekend marks the final stretch of a very long campaign. >> and after all that we've been through together, we sure as heck can't give up now. >> i want you to know i'm confident about the future. i'm optimistic. >> the frenetic race to election day less than 96 hours away. a must-see joe biden top ten list. you're watching "early today."

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new jersey officials say residents in storm battered city will cast ballots on military trucks. with 96 hours to go, the candidates are planning to spend a lot of time in the battleground state of ohio. nbc's tracie potts has those details for us. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. we've now taken a look at their travel schedules between now and tuesday and, boy, are they going to be busy. let's start with governor romney who is going to hit seven states between now and election day, including four on sunday alone. tonight he is in ohio. in fact, both of the candidates are in ohio today. he plans to stand with 100 supporters, celebrities, and politicians backing his campaign. governor romney last night was in virginia beach. this was a make-up rally from before the storm. the president's campaign is running out of steam. meantime, president obama also hitting seven states between now

and election day with the focus on ohio. he will be in ohio every day until voters head to the polls. the president making his closing argument and focusing on that must-win state. and he is also picking up a key endorsement from new york mayor michael bloomberg. earlier in the week the mayor said they were too busy with storm cleanup to accommodate a presidential visit, but he did write in "bloomberg news" that he's endorsing the president because of his policies on climate change. lynn. all right. well, some more political news for you. missouri senate candidate todd akin gained national attention for those legitimate rape comments. well, now he's out with a new campaign ad featuring two women talking about, of all things, rape and abortion. take a look. >> my name is kelly burrill and i'm a full-time student, i'm a single mother. i'm a woman who's had an abortion. i've been raped in my past.

the reason that i'm voting for todd and that i'm so proud of him is because he defends the unborn. paul ryan has been busy on the stump trying to shore up swing state voters while saying just how tough he and romney really are. >> we can't keep doing this. look, mitt romney and i can handle whatever they're going to throw at us for the next five days. while vice president joe biden has, indeed, been offering his advice on the topic here, early voting. >> if you vote early, you don't have to pay taxes. i'm sorry, i'm being told that's not accurate. >> that's not accurate. >> single and looking to mingle? find that special someone in the early voting line. >> yeah. >> early voters receive a $5 million donation from donald trump. >> wow. >> honestly, don't you want this election over with already? >> yes, we do. >> that's pretty good. and check out this political sign on jack and june zellin's lawn in republican heavy castle rock, colorado. it reads, a romney fan stole my

obama sign. do it again and you'll make my day and tv news. the zellins add that the sign is brightly lit at night. well, brand-new information on the cia's role in the benghazi attack. details next. plus oprah's favorite things. you might even be able to afford a few of them. you're watching "early today."

stories making news on this friday morning. the cia has released a detailed time line of this september's attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi, libya. it shows that security officers went to the aid of american diplomats less than 25 minutes after the first call for help. and the agency specifically denied allegations that personnel were ordered to stand down. a senior secret service agent who served on the protection detail for president obama killed himself last week in washington. he was under investigation for violating policy by having a long-standing relationship with a woman from mexico without telling the secret service. in sports, on thursday night football. san diego quarterback philip rivers connected a career best 90% of his passes including two touchdowns as the chargers pounded the kansas city chiefs, 31-13. and this california woman said she didn't know she had won a $23 million lotto ticket until

her daughter saw her photo in the newspaper. the ticket had been in the woman's car since may and she had only until november 26th to cash it in. i bet the daughter gets a chunk of it. now over to wall street where u.s. and asian markets were given a boost. the dow climbed 136 points. the s&p jumped 15. the nasdaq rose 42. tokyo and hong kong finished the trading week with the nikkei gaining 104 points and the hang seng jumping to 89. well, traders and voters are watching for any surprises from today's october employment report. it's the last one before the election and expectations are about 125,000 jobs were added. that should keep the unemployment rate at 7.8%. a slew of upbeat data drove thursday's momentum including positive reports on consumers, retail, auto sales and manufacturing. it has been a rough week for martha stewart's company. offices were flooded by hurricane sandy forcing earnings

to be delayed twice and now the company says it's laying off 12% of its staff. shutdowns and free fares are costing new york's mass transit authority about $18 million a day. new york senator chuck schumer says fema will reimburse the city in full. sandy's total price tag is an estimated $50 billion making it the nation's fourth costliest disaster behind katrina, 9/11 and hurricane andrew. homeowners in new york, new jersey, and connecticut may be spared a costly deductible after state governors declared sandy did not make landfall as a hurricane. and business is about to boom for companies that made oprah's annual favorite things list. a few of this year's favs, an $1800 battery and peddle powered

bike, microsoft's new $500 surface tablet and a $40 blue velvet cake. you're watching "early today."

we are watching a nice weekend forecast shaping up in many areas of the west. only need the umbrella in a few spots. clouds lingering on the coast with on-and-off showers in areas

like portland. temperatures seeable for this time of year. still lingering moisture in the northwest. looking mostly cloudy up there. nice in the southwest and areas traveling the inner mountain west, no problems whatsoever. enjoy your weekend. >> bill, thanks so much. a bucks county, pennsylvania, family is still without power like millions of other power in the northeast. this family has found a unique way to cope with the storm. v vai sikahema shares their story. ♪ light my home >> reporter: looking for something to do while your power is out? ♪ fridge is getting warmer and it smells like rotten cheese ♪ >> reporter: lots of people who are stuck at home without power end up getting on each other's nerves, but twin brothers chad and brandon grossman decided to write a song for the occasion. ♪ light my home >> reporter: the boys and their

mom are doing their best to cope. >> kind of stops your life. you can't move forward with your normal routine. >> reporter: they even found a way to make sure lily stays warm and they found some ingenious ways to survive. >> just wet a towel and run it under the faucet and just stand, you know, in the stall just, you know, washing yourself down and then give it a quick rinse and you're good to go. >> basically find an outlet where you can get one. that means any local convenience store, fast food store, bring your charger, maybe buy water, something like that, and charge a phone. >> reporter: the boys say they'll keep strumming until the power starts a 'comin. ♪ light my home >> good plan. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today."

it is the last thing you think people will face in the height of hurricane sandy. disturbing surveillance video shows a new york man being attacked during the superstorm. the 20-year-old man had been rushing home during the worst of the storm when a group of five men tripped him and just began beating him. the thieves made off with a phone and $40. unreal. well, two astronauts took a walk outside the international space station thursday to fix a leaky radiator system. it took them 5 1/2 hours to successfully reroute ammonia cooling lines. just hours before the orbiting lab had to be moved to avoid a piece of space junk. and here's a fun tidbit for you. nasa says the astronauts warmed up for the walk by dancing to madonna's "vogue." bill does that every morning in the makeup room. so do you pay attention to those in-flight safety briefing before you take off? we didn't think so. and air new zealand wants to

change that so they released a new video to celebrate the premiere of "the hobbit" later this month using characters from the film as passengers. and the director of "the hobbit," peter jackson, even makes a surprise cameo. not to worry, all the same safety information is included, but you may not be paying attention to the safety information if you're distracted by the harry feet. isn't that a great idea? >> yes. i mean, if you made them entertaining. >> this could work. >> there's nothing wrong with the stewardesses. they do a wonderful job. >> lovely job. >> great performances before every flight. always. well, it's time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. it is all about ohio for president obama today. he will make campaign stops in three cities while vice president joe biden heads to wisconsin and the first lady visits virginia. meanwhile, governor romney, paul ryan and ann romney will all appear together at an event in westchester, ohio. after hurricane sandy the new york yankees are sponsoring a blood drive in new york city. donors will receive tickets to a yankees game next year. great idea, guys.

and don't forget to fall back this weekend. daylight savings time ends at 2:00 a.m. sunday morning. we get an extra hour. love that. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. john bon jovi is live in the studio to talk about tonight's nbc universal benefit and the devastation in his hometown. and legendary rockers aerosmith perform live on the plaza. and this sunday on "meet the press" david gregory gets the final word of the 2012 campaign from obama strategist david plouffe and house majority leader, eric cantor. and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com